US92461A - Alfred lawton - Google Patents

Description

gaat ont.

ALFRED LAW'roN, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSGNOR rro rRANcis N. LAW'roN; OESAME PLACE.

Laws Patent No. 92,461, dared July 13,1869.

IMEROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING COAT,

The Schedule referred to inA these Letters Patent and making put of tha 1D0- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED LAWTON, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Raising Coal and other granular material; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact'description of the same.

My invention consists in raising coal and otlrer granular material, by means of a bucket or other suitable vessel, arranged to slide in a shaft, or its equivalent, which extends so far below the ground or platform on which is deposited the coal or other material to be raised, that the latter will of itself pass into the bucket, all substantially as described hereafter.

The object'oi` my invention is to save the tedious and costly labor demanded in the removal of coal, Src., by theta-id of shovels and whcelbarrows.

In order to enable others to practise my invention, I will now proceed to describe its constructionand operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a partl of this specication, and in which- Figures l and 2 are vertical sections of apparatus which may be used in carrying out my invention, and

Figure 3, a plan view ofthe same.

A. represents the surface of the ground or platform, on which the coal is deposited, and

B is a shaft, built of wood, iron, or other suitable material, to such a height above the ground as circumstances may demand, the shaft being continued below the surface of the ground or platform, as shown in the drawing.

In the present instance, the shaft is of the oblong Sectional form illustrated in iig. 3; and in the front side l), of the shaft, there is an opening, e, the lower edge of which is continued, in the form of an inclined plane, f, to the surface of the ground or platform. It is not essential, however, th'at there should be but one ef these openings and inclined planes, as they may be also arranged at the back, or, if desired, upon all four sides ofthe shaft.

On the inside ofthe shaft a sliding door, h, is so arranged that it can be made to close or uncover the opening e, the door occupying a position close to the inside of the front'wall l, and being operated, in the present instance, by a rod, l, extending upward to or above the top of the shaft; but the said door may, in some instances, be operated from below Vthe shaft, uithout departing from my invention.

A bucket, l), conibrming in shape to, but somewhat less, as regards length and breadth, than the interior of the shaft, is arranged to slide in guides in the latter, the bucket being suspended by a rope or chain, y, and being raised and lowered byany suitable system of gearing, under the control ofan attendant.

In using the above-described apparatus, the bucket is iirst lowered to the bottom of the shaft, as shownlin lig. 1; the door h is then elevated, so as to uncover the whole or part of the opening e, when coal from the mass upon the ground or platform A, and surrounding the shaft, will rush down thelinclined plane f, and into the bucket J).

When the bucket is full, the attendant deprcsses the door h, thereby closing the opening e, and preventing the further passage of coal through the same. He then, by a proper system of signals, communicates with a second attendant, who so manipulates the gearing that it shall raise the bucket to the top of the shaft, Where the latter may be tilted, or its contents otherwise disposed of in any desired manner.

The importance of my invention as a labor-saving apparatus will 44be midexstood, if we suppose it to be erected at any place where large masses of coal are stored, to be removed from time to time, for instance, at the coal-depot of a railroad orcanal, where it has been the practice to remove the coa-l from heaps there deposited by wheelbarrows and shovels, demanding the services of a number of laborers, who conveyed the coa-l in the wheelbarrows up inclined planes, and tilted them into cars or other vehicles, or into chutes come municating therewith. All this tedious and costly labor may be dispensed with by the erection of the abovedescribed simple apparatus, as the coal will of itself fall into the bucket, and the latter may be raised to any desired height, and its contents tilted into a chute, or directly into a car or other Suitable receptacle.

The apparatus may bc used to advantage in many other localities, as, for instance, at coal-mines, or where vessels have to be loaded with coal. And in unloading vessels, the apparatus may be erected upon the same, the shaft taking the form of an enclosed hatchway. The apparatus may also be employed for raising grain orother granular materiali In some instances, where it is not desirable that the coal should be filled entirely around the apparatus, as illustrated in the first two figures of the drawing, and where 'there is but one opening e and inclined plane f, it may be of advantage to provide walls, fc x, shown by' dotted lines, fig. 3, for the purpose of coniining the coal to one side of the sha only.` In this case, it is not essential that the entire shait should be an enclosed structure. All that portion above the ground or'platform, with the exception of the front b, against which the mass of coal bears, may consist of a skeleton frame,`

s'uiciently substantial to guide the bucket and to support the necessary hoistinggear and other appliances.-

NVhere the coal surrounds the apparatus, however, it is essential that the shaft should be entirely closed to a height at least greater than that. of the mass` When the shaft, instead of being permanently fixed to the ground, is secured to and arranged to project below the surface of a platform, the latter can be mounted upon wheels, and can be provided with a suitable turn-table, so that the appara-tus may be moved to any desired position, and caused to face in anydireotion. The shaft can, also, without departing from my invention, be so inclined that a car operated by the hoisting-gear, and ruiming upon one side of the said shaft, may be substitutedior the suspended bucket.

It will be seen, that the main feature of my inventionis the sinking ofthe shaft so far below the surface of the ground or platform, that the eoal will of itself pass into the bucket or hoisting-vessel 1). lt is`by this simple contrivanee that the removal of coal is facilitated, and the labor heretofore expended in that operation saved.I

I claim as my invention, and desire to secru'e by Letters Patentp l. The raising of coal or other granular' material by means of a buoketor other suitable vessel, arranged to `slide in a shaft, or its equivalent, which extends so far below the ground or platform on which is deposited a mass of the coal or other material to be raised, that witnesses.

ALFRED LAXVTON. Witnesses E. H. BAILEY, WM. A. STEEL.

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